Heroes and the Creation of Myth: Iron Man (2008)

Superheroes occupy a nearly-unique position in the history of human character creation. They are creatures of myth, but at the same time people with the concerns of human beings, even when they are themselves alien. This puts them in a position to not only be the subjects of myth, but to interact with and in some cases control the creation of the mythology which surrounds them.

In this series I set out to analyze the different ways heroes participate in the creation of their own mythology. I've decided to begin with the largest single continuity ever attempted in film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the time leading up to the release of The Avengers: Infinity War I'm going to watch or rewatch the eighteen existing MCU films in order to look at them specifically from this perspective. I started with the first film in the continuity, Iron Man (2008).

Tony Stark starts with an advantage: he's the subject of myth long before he becomes a superhero, and it's a myth he both creates and resists. Indeed, after the movie begins with a flash-forward to establish the action, the very beginning is a video about the myth of Tony Stark, technological genius, produced for an awards ceremony that Tony himself fails to show up for. It encapsulates the Stark mythos perfectly. He's brilliant, powerful, famous, and while he revels in that he's also deeply uncomfortable with it on a subconscious level, causing him to sabotage it and cultivate a counter-image as an irresponsible and erratic man. While it's hard to imagine Tony Stark being completely in control of his conflicting mythologies, he's certainly far more experienced in their manipulation than most other people who are entering into the public spotlight of a superhero's life.

When Tony returns from his imprisonment in Afghanistan, he calls a press conference which illustrates his mastery over his myth. Tony the erratic, Tony who is just back from his traumatic imprisonment and carrying a Burger King bag, starts the press conference by sitting down in front of the podium and convincing all of the reporters to sit down with him. So once he's talking to them, once he has them paying attention to what he's saying, he can stand back up, go to the podium, and be in a dominating physical position when he makes his surprise announcement that Stark Industries will no longer manufacture weapons.

Just in physical positioning, Tony Stark asserts that he's the dominant force in the conversation, and that the reporters have all chosen to go along. Tony Stark is important, and Tony Stark's importance is at the heart of his myth. In contrast, Iron Man is, if not quite a secret, not a phenomenon that is open to the public during this movie. Through most of the rest of the movie, Tony concentrates on building and testing his suit, and not on myth-making. At the beginning he doesn't even conceive of Iron Man as a superhero. He's merely exploring the fundamental consequences of the suit he made to escape Five Rings in Afghanistan, and refining the design.

It's not until Tony gets angry that he starts using the suit in a heroic fashion, first in fighting Five Rings, and then fighting Obadiah Stane and the suit Stark Industries has built behind his back. Tony's instinct and experience for mythology doesn't return until after the action is over and he's holding the final press conference. Pressed by S.H.I.E.L.D. to read their prepared statement supporting their cover story, Tony sees that he's better served by declining, by not keeping Iron Man a secret, but by tying the new superhero myth into the existing myth of brilliant playboy Tony Stark.

"I am Iron Man." With four words Tony asserts his own control over the myth he's committed himself to, and shoulders out S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempt to maintain it on their terms. At the same time he's broken out of the stale, polarized double myth of Tony Stark at the beginning of the movie. Whatever Iron Man is, or becomes, Tony Stark will never be seen the same. He's entered a new phase of his public perception, and a new phase of his mythology.

Stay tuned for further articles in this series.